Crushed
Page 28
He panicked. Just a little. “Hey, something is pulling on my line. Now what?”
To her credit Ellie didn’t laugh at him, but there was amusement in her eyes. “You need to play the fish if it is big, because otherwise you can’t land it without snapping your line. Wear him out. Let him take off and then bring him back slowly. He’s like a suspect; you’ve got him, but just no proof it’s going to come to anything. So work it. If you push too hard, he’ll run and you’ll lose him.”
That was a way to put it he could understand.
It ended up not being all that big, but was still over a foot long. She informed him it was a walleye as she deftly took it off the lure and gently lowered it into the water.
Maybe he would take this up and forget Everest.
At the end of it all, she caught the biggest fish, and it was a beauty, a northern pike about twenty-five inches long, but he did like the quiet, and maybe the wilderness lifestyle wasn’t so bad.
MacIntosh was definitely catch and release, so they put every fish back, watched it swim away, and decided to go back to her house for lunch.
His phone rang just as they were walking inside. Jason answered immediately, since Metzger didn’t bother with calls that weren’t important. “Santiago.”
“Internal Affairs has decided you aren’t worth it. I’ve always wondered about that myself, so good call on their part. With so many murder indictments on Nichols, the statements from his wife and MacIntosh, and the attack on Grasso, you are clear. Can we please never have this conversation again? The suspension is over, so enjoy the rest of your involuntary vacation because it’s done. I expect you back on the job.”
Jason had to admit he was relieved. He told Ellie, “Internal Affairs is backing away.”
She didn’t look surprised. “I thought they might.”
“I thought they might not.”
“You do take a risk now and then.”
“In a good cause.” He meant her.
And she knew it.
Epilogue
“I need for us to make a stop.”
Santiago was his usual self. “Okay … sure, that’s fine. What for?”
“Not saying.” Ellie was hesitant about this whole thing anyway. “If you can’t do it, don’t worry about it. I can just drive myself. Just take me home.”
“Did I say I can’t do it?”
“Never mind. Just drop me off and I’ll get my car.”
“Ellie, really?”
“Two o’clock.”
“Where?”
She looked at the time on her phone. She could go it alone, but he’d know anyway, and it was now a decision she’d made, and for that matter, it really had never been a decision.
This was a difficult road to walk.
The last case had been hell, and she was fatigued for more than apparently one reason.
It wasn’t entirely his fault.
He owned a good deal of it, however. So did she. She gave him the address.
“Are you sick or something?” he asked as he parked his truck in front of a doctor’s office. “Flu?”
Wasn’t the man a detective? It was so irritating to even have to go through with this, but at the moment all men fell into the stupid category. Ellie said, “Not exactly. I do not have the flu.”
“You’ve seemed awfully tired, but I just chalked it up to that last case.”
“I am tired.”
He figured it out in about two seconds when they walked through the door and he took in the waiting room. He caught her wrist, his blue eyes intense. “Are you shitting me?”
There were multiple physicians in the practice, so the waiting room was full and it was quiet. Or it had been until they arrived.
“I was kind of counting on you to behave for this experience, so clean it up, please.”
“You’re … pregnant?”
“Unless all three of those tests are wrong and medical science has lost its edge. Let’s let them tell us if it’s true. We’ll still have to deal with Metzger.”
It was a good and bad thing he looked like he’d just hit the lottery instead of being horrified. “A baby?”
She couldn’t do this. She could not have a baby with Detective Jason Santiago. This wasn’t what she’d envisioned for her future … she needed a stockbroker who loved meat loaf or something, instead of someone who’d been suspended from duty for winning a fistfight with a stalker and killer. “I’m going to go sign in. That is if you’ll let go of me.”
Jody had been the one she’d called first, not sure whether she should laugh or cry. Her sister had informed her she had the most interesting life in the world and it beat the hell out of watching cartoons and using bottle brushes, which is what she had to do for a good deal of the day.
Forget the stockbroker.
She didn’t picture the stockbroker getting up in the middle of the night, and yet she was fairly sure Jason would cradle a baby in the wee hours so she could catch some sleep. He’d probably have a holstered weapon and be watching women’s beach volleyball, but as long as he did it, that would help.
“We all got here somehow.”
“I’m kinda off guard here. We were careful.”
“If you will cast back, we weren’t careful every single time. Guess what happens now and then?”
“You told me not to worry about it.”
“I meant it. At that moment I wasn’t worried about it either.”
“We made love. I’m not the one who won’t give into that.”
Everyone was listening to them.
He had a legitimate point. “You aren’t the one who might have a baby.”
“Marry me.”
“What?” She’d never been so taken aback in her life.
“For the smartest woman I know, you are so obtuse. Why don’t we get married? We practically live together anyway.”
“That started to avoid a murderer. You’d consider that a proposal?”
This had now escalated to perhaps a contender for most unusual waiting room conversation ever. She felt like a soap opera star.
“Is that a no?”
“I’m not sure.” She was emotional and it showed, so she just said it. “Then we can’t work together.”
“That’s the objection? Oh shit, this kid is doomed. You’d say no because of that?”
There was a solid point. “You have a lot of flaws.”
“Oh, your perfection isn’t in question? Ellie, help me out here. I love you. What else is it you want?”
She couldn’t really ask for more. They’d never have a romance novel kind of life, but it wasn’t like she was a stranger to the twists and turns.
The nurse saved her. “Eleanor?”
To his credit, Santiago asked, “Can I come with you? I assume you want that, otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
“I guess.” She shrugged, but the truth was, she didn’t want to do this alone. “I might need someone to hold my hand.”
“Right. You need someone to hold your hand? Haven’t you shot serial killers?”
He had to say that out loud. No one even pretended to be reading their magazines any longer.
“So have you. Can you keep your voice down?”
The women were staring at them, and that was everyone. Ellie blamed Georgia for this conversation. Since she knew him, Ellie had actually asked how to break the news, and Georgia had suggested that simply taking him to the appointment might be the easiest since he’d insist on going anyway.
He, of course, didn’t pay any attention. “I’ve only shot a few. This I haven’t done before.”
She was so grateful when they were guided down the corridor to the exam room.
The doctor was older, but she’d been seeing him since she moved to the city for annual routine exams, so at least he was familiar. The man took one look at Santiago and said, “Father?”
“I sure will be.” He sounded like he meant it.
The physician said, “Let’s listen to the heartbe
at. From the timeline you gave my nurse when you made this appointment, we should be able to get one.”
ALSO BY KATE WATTERSON FROM TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES
Frozen
Charred
Buried
Fractured
Crushed
Severed (forthcoming)
PRAISE FOR Kate Watterson’s Ellie MacIntosh Series
“Chilling! Watterson draws you in and keeps you riveted until the last page.”
—Laura Griffin, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of At Close Range, on Frozen
“Watterson’s evocative prose brings a Wisconsin winter to life where the most dangerous threat isn’t the cold but a cunning killer who will leave you chilled to the bone.”
—CJ Lyons, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, on Frozen
“Engrossing … a surprising and satisfying conclusion.”
—Publishers Weekly on Fractured
“It’s like getting two books for the price of one in this exhilarating novel.”
—RT Book Reviews on Buried
“Just try to put this one down! A great pick for Allison Brennan fans.”
—Library Journal on Buried
“Will keep readers frantically turning the pages long into the night with this well-plotted mystery. Here’s hoping Watterson has more Ellie MacIntosh cases up her sleeve.”
—Suspense Magazine on Charred
“A tale of psychological suspense that builds to a chilling ending … Will keep you turning the pages late into the evening.”
—Jamie Freveletti, international bestselling author, on Frozen
About the Author
KATE WATTERSON grew up on a steady diet of mystery/suspense novels. If it involves murder and intrigue, she is bound to be hooked. She lives in rural Indiana and is the author of the Detective Ellie MacIntosh series, including Frozen, Charred, Buried, and Fractured. Sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
Also by Kate Watterson from Tom Doherty Associates
Praise for Kate Watterson’s Ellie MacIntosh Series
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
CRUSHED
Copyright © 2018 by Katherine Smith
All rights reserved.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
e-ISBN 9780765392947
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First Edition: January 2018